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G. M. GUILD.

STRINGING AND TUNING DEVICE FOR PIANOS.

Patented Jan.15,1889.

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(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2. G. M. GUILD.

STRINGING AND TUNING DEVICE FOR PIANOS.

No. 396,335. Patented Jan. 15, 1889.

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GI ILD, OF SAME PLACE.

STRINGING AND TUNING DEVICE. FOR PIANUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 396,335, dated January 15, 1889.

' Application filed April 14, 1888. Serial No. 270,681. (No niodeld T0 (0Z2 1117mm it may 0071067 71 Be it. known that 'I, GEORGE Monsn GUILD, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stringing and Tuning Devices for Pianos; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure I is a top view, Fig. 2 a transverse and vertical section on line I l of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a vertical section taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 'l, of a portion of the metallic string-frame of a piano having my invention applied thereto. Figs. I and 5 show modifications of my invention.

The invention consists in the construction hereinafter pointed out.

In the drawings, A denotes a portion of the string-frame of a piano to which my improvement is shown as applied.

B is the bridge, C the agraffes, and D D D the straining-pins, which are arranged in the plate as usual, except that the bearings in the plate are made longer than heretofore, and at top are provided with teeth or abutments I), having between them inclined planes 0, which extend from the bottom of one abutment to the top of the next adjacent one. The face (7 of the abutments should incline a little from the top to the bottom thereof and in a direction underneath the incline, as represented, forming an under-cut, so that after the strainingpin has been. tuned by the tuning-wrench to bring the tone of the wire about to pitch, and the pin 6, projecting from the straining-pin, has been forced down to the bottom of one of the abutmcnts, said under-cut of the face of the abutment will tend to prevent the pin from rising under the strain exerted upon it by the string.

Extending upward from the plate are ribs or bridges E E, forming part of the plate, and arranged between them, as shown, is a series of screws, F F F, screwed into the plate and provided with prismatic headsf and shoulders g. Encompassin g each screw F is a follower, G, which bears at top against the shoulder of the screw, and at its lower part has a projection, 71, grooved in its lower edge to receive and rest on the string. l'ly iurnin g the l screws F-the followers can be made to depress the portion of the strings between the ribs, as may be required to strain the strings and bring the tone of them up to pitch.

In place of the agrat'fes, (shown in Figs. 1 and 2,) the plates may be provided with two ribs, perforated, as shown, to receive the strings, and by arranging the screws F and their followers G between said ribs the same result can be attained-that is, the tone of the string brought up to pitch by raising the strings instead of depressing themand in this case the body of the follower will be made to rest on the shoulder g of the screw and the lower end of the projection 71 having a hook formed to extend under the strings, so that the strain can be applied to the string by raising the follower instead of by depressing it, 1" as shown in Fig. r. FillfllQllllOlQ, I sometimes E provide the stringframe with one additional rib and remove the agralii'es, and arrange the screws F and followers G between said rib and the bridge, which are each notched to receive the strings and keep them at the proper distance apart from each other, said arrangement being represented in Fig. ii.

In tuning a piano provided with my invert tion, after the strings have been strained sufficiently or brought up to pitch, or nearly so, and allowed to remain until they have stretched, the friction of the pins D in the block .1" being sufficient to hold them for this purpose, I then depress the pins sufficiently to carry the pin e of each into one of the notches h. The pins D then become immovable under the strain of the st ring, and any further straining of the string must be efers G. Should a string break, by applying a wrench to its pin I) said pin can be raised by turning it so as to carry the pin 6 up the incline c. It can then be revolved suiiiciently to wind the string on it to stretch it, and can then be set back again as before.

fected by means of the screws I and follow- 20 f is integral with said pin l.

I am aware that straining-pins have been provided with teeth to engage other teeth on the string-frame. I use pins which engage undercut teeth on the string-frame, the under-cuts preventing the tension from springing the pins out of the teeth. I am also aware that auxiliary straining-pins having followers to bear upon the strings are old. In these old devices the pins are threaded their entire length. The followers fit upon them loosely, and above the followers nuts are screwed upon the pins. These followers have grooves in which the strings fit; but these followers do not have the projections 7b with the grooves in their bottom surfaces. Such old construction, however, does have projections with a hook at the bottom, and I do not claim this feature per .96. In my device the pin F is only threaded at its lower end, and the head The portion of the pin F in the follower G is smooth; hence this pin cannot have any frictional contact with the follower, except on top. The follower is provided with the projection 72, having the groove 71, so that these auxiliary straining-pins can be used in sets of three for each set of three strings, as shown in Figs. 1 and Here one of the followers straddles one of the outside strings and comes down between them, resting on the middle string.

Having described the invention, what I claim is- 1. -The string-frame provided with the teeth 0, having the under-cut, as described, in combination with the straining-pins I), having the pins 8, as set forth.

2. The string-frame A, having the bridges E E, in combination with the pins F, having the integral heads f, and the followers G, having the projections 71., with the grooves 71 the pins F being smooth where they are in the followers G, as set forth. p

3. The string-frame A, having the bridges E E perforated, as shown, in combination with the pins F, having the integral heads f, and the followers G, having a hooked projection with the groove h, the pins F being smooth where they are in the followers G, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE MORSE GITILD.

- lYitnesses:

S. N. PIPER, v C. F. DANIELS. 

